"I am sorry for ditching you guys at breakfast and at lunch." Princess Marina said as both her and Lorraine sat down at their usual table for dinner.
"I just had a lot of things to do today." Princess Marina said as she went to pick up her cutleries.
"Like ditching your friends?" Rassera asked harshly as she sipped her soup with a spoon and Esmira and Maria looked at her in shock.
"That's not it," Princess Marina said as she dropped the spoon she carried.
"There were matters I had to attend to." said Princess Marina as she tried to explain herself without giving anything away.
"Oh I forgot." Rassera said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"I forgot that very soon you are going to be a dining hall prefect," Rassera said stressing the word "prefect".
"I am sure you had a lot of important things to do." Rassera said with a sarcastic laugh.
"Why are you acting like this?" Esmira asked in confusion as she stared at Rassera.
"It's not like this has happened before," Esmira said as she tried to deescalate the situation.
"That's right." Maria said agreeing with Esmira.
"Princess Marina hasn't done something like this before so if she says she had things to do then-" Maria tried to say but Rassera cut her off.
"So we should just sit back and take it." Rassera snapped at Maria, before turning to face Princess Marina.
"I followed you at lunch you know." Rassera said as she glared at Princess Marina in anger.
"You were acting strange and I was worried so I followed you and I heard some bits and pieces of your conversation outside the dining hall." Rassera said, as she gripped her cutlery.
"So you can tell them what's wrong but you can't tell us." Rassera said, referring to Lorraine, Aleron and Aldric.
"What are we to you?" Rassera asked before she abandoned her meal and left the table.
"Rassera!" Esmira called as she abandoned the table and ran after her.
"Rassera!" Maria said as she got up to run after Rassera too before pausing abruptly.
Turning to look at Princess Marina, Maria turned and said "She doesn't mean anything she said."
"She was having a really rough day today and wanted to tell us all about it when we were all together so she is a bit sensitive." Maria said in Rassera's defense.
"I apologize on her behalf." Maria said as she apologized on behalf of Rassera and ran after her.
Seeing the two empty seats before her and the one empty seat beside her, Princess Marina took a deep breath and said "I seemed to have lost my appetite for the day." as she got up.
Moving to follow her, Lorraine didn't even get to stand up fully before Princess Marina said "Don't follow me."
Stepping out of the dining hall in the light of the full moon, the first thing Princess Marina did was release a shaky breath.
"What to do?" Princess Marina thought as she tried hard not to cry after being overwhelmed all day.
Looking to the trees which were not too far from the dining hall, Princess Marina walked into the mini forest and climbed a huge elm tree with steady branches.
Placing her back to the tree, Princess Marina began to hum a song her mom would always sing her, every time she came home devasted that the children in Valaria wouldn't play with her.
"You must remember this," Princess Marina thought, as she recalled her mom's words.
"Because things are difficult now, doesn't mean they will stay that way forever." Princess Marina thought as a tear dropped down her cheek.
For a few minutes, Princess Marina was surrounded by silence and basked in the glow of the full moon but in the next moment her mini get away was disturbed.
"Princess Marina." Aldric called at the bottom of the tree Princess Marina was sitting on.
"I know that you don't want to be disturbed but you haven't eaten anything all day." Aldric said as he tried to catch a glimpse of Princess Marina.
"I snuck something out of the dining hall for you." Aldric said, holding up a bundle that he had filled with some pieces of meat and bread.
"Could you please come down to eat?" Aldric asked softly and tears began to drop from Princess Marina's cheeks.
"If you're worried that people might catch you eating here instead of the dining hall, you don't have to worry." Aldric said worriedly.
"No one other than me and you are in the area right now so you can eat without getting caught." Aldric called out and Princess Marina tried to stop herself from crying.
"Princess Marina." Aldric called again when he didn't hear a response.
Sighing, Aldric said "I'm coming up." in a firm tone.
"Aldric wait!" Princess Marina tried to say but Aldric had already used the wind to propel himself to the tree.
"Stick your hand out." Aldric called as he began to fall and Princess Marina immediately held her hand out as she used the other one to hold on to the trunk of the tree.
Grabbing her hand immediately with his right hand, Aldric used his left hand to grab the branch of the tree.
"You can let go of me slowly." Aldric said and Princess Marina nodded before letting him go slowly.
Slowly securing himself onto the branch with his two hands, Aldric managed to pull himself up until he was sitted right next to Princess Marina.